The Wrestlers, oil on canvas, 45 x 45 cm
The Woodpeckers, Oil on canvas, 150 x 220 cm
Saturday, December 31, 2011
Friday, December 30, 2011
Portillo's Chocolate Cake with Chocolate Frosting
Ingredients:
1 box Duncan Heinz Devil's Food cake (word on the street Portillo's uses Betty Crocker but I'm a Duncan Heinz girl. Use whichever you'd like.)
3 eggs
1 cup cold water
1 cup Hellmann's mayonnaise
Chocolate frosting
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease 2 - 9 inch cake pans.
2. Mix together cake mix, eggs, water, and mayonnaise. Beat for about 4 minutes.
3. Pour into prepared cake pans. Bake for 30 minutes or according to cake directions.
Frosting:
Ingredients:
2 cups butter (no substitutes), softened
9 cups confectioners' sugar
2 1/2 cups baking cocoa
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup milk
Directions :
In a large mixing bowl, cream butter. Gradually beat in confectioners' sugar, cocoa and vanilla. Add enough milk until frosting reaches spreading consistency. Allow layers to cool on baking rack. Once cooled, transfer to cake platter and frost.
1 box Duncan Heinz Devil's Food cake (word on the street Portillo's uses Betty Crocker but I'm a Duncan Heinz girl. Use whichever you'd like.)
3 eggs
1 cup cold water
1 cup Hellmann's mayonnaise
Chocolate frosting
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease 2 - 9 inch cake pans.
2. Mix together cake mix, eggs, water, and mayonnaise. Beat for about 4 minutes.
3. Pour into prepared cake pans. Bake for 30 minutes or according to cake directions.
Frosting:
Ingredients:
2 cups butter (no substitutes), softened
9 cups confectioners' sugar
2 1/2 cups baking cocoa
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup milk
Directions :
In a large mixing bowl, cream butter. Gradually beat in confectioners' sugar, cocoa and vanilla. Add enough milk until frosting reaches spreading consistency. Allow layers to cool on baking rack. Once cooled, transfer to cake platter and frost.
Portillo's Chocolate Cake with Chocolate Frosting
Ingredients:
1 box Duncan Heinz Devil's Food cake (word on the street Portillo's uses Betty Crocker but I'm a Duncan Heinz girl. Use whichever you'd like.)
3 eggs
1 cup cold water
1 cup Hellmann's mayonnaise
Chocolate frosting
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease 2 - 9 inch cake pans.
2. Mix together cake mix, eggs, water, and mayonnaise. Beat for about 4 minutes.
3. Pour into prepared cake pans. Bake for 30 minutes or according to cake directions.
Frosting:
Ingredients:
2 cups butter (no substitutes), softened
9 cups confectioners' sugar
2 1/2 cups baking cocoa
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup milk
Directions :
In a large mixing bowl, cream butter. Gradually beat in confectioners' sugar, cocoa and vanilla. Add enough milk until frosting reaches spreading consistency. Allow layers to cool on baking rack. Once cooled, transfer to cake platter and frost.
1 box Duncan Heinz Devil's Food cake (word on the street Portillo's uses Betty Crocker but I'm a Duncan Heinz girl. Use whichever you'd like.)
3 eggs
1 cup cold water
1 cup Hellmann's mayonnaise
Chocolate frosting
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease 2 - 9 inch cake pans.
2. Mix together cake mix, eggs, water, and mayonnaise. Beat for about 4 minutes.
3. Pour into prepared cake pans. Bake for 30 minutes or according to cake directions.
Frosting:
Ingredients:
2 cups butter (no substitutes), softened
9 cups confectioners' sugar
2 1/2 cups baking cocoa
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup milk
Directions :
In a large mixing bowl, cream butter. Gradually beat in confectioners' sugar, cocoa and vanilla. Add enough milk until frosting reaches spreading consistency. Allow layers to cool on baking rack. Once cooled, transfer to cake platter and frost.
Thursday, December 29, 2011
Ischgl
At the beginning of December, I spent a long weekend skiing in the Alps with some friends. This was my second alpine skiing adventure with the first being in 2009. I love the Alps. Howwever, when it comes to the actual skiing, I am way out of my league. I do have some really great friends though and they really helped me with tips and support through each run and I knew when it was time for me to train myself on the baby slope.
I love that I rented tiny skiis and bought myself some hot pink pants for the occasion. One of my favorite things about skiing, aside from being in the mountains is the style. I'm not sure it's exactly ski fashon but the style is very fun for me. Much like I have always liked bathing suits and the associated ocean style which is sort of similar despote the weather differences.
Then there is Apres Ski which is really so much fun even if the bar is filled to the brim with sweaty, drunk Germans and the music is rediculous with a capital R. This bar was screaming for VMJ BTW, too bad we were never old enough for Apres Ski back in our college ski trip days.
Going with a large group of friends is also part of what makes a ski trip for me. I still don't consider myself a skiier but I promised my friends I would go at least one weekend a year to work on it.
And really when I think skiing is not my sport, I remember the mountains and I am totally committed to one weekend a year.
Sadly, I think my non-skiing husband would have a terrible time if he were to come skiing with me because I am still a beginner and struggle to keep myself motivated after day 2. I think we will try it together at least once though as long as he promises to wear a helmet. On this trip, I had a wipe out that taught me the reason for ski helmets.
I also LOVE slying over the Alps. In my old job, I got so excited to fly with Swiss Air because of the georgeous views on the way into Zurich. I really should plan a summer weekend in these mountains to fully appriciate them.
Fun Fact: Ischgl spreads across Switzerland and Austria and at least one ski trail is over 20 km long!
Ischgl
At the beginning of December, I spent a long weekend skiing in the Alps with some friends. This was my second alpine skiing adventure with the first being in 2009. I love the Alps. Howwever, when it comes to the actual skiing, I am way out of my league. I do have some really great friends though and they really helped me with tips and support through each run and I knew when it was time for me to train myself on the baby slope.
I love that I rented tiny skiis and bought myself some hot pink pants for the occasion. One of my favorite things about skiing, aside from being in the mountains is the style. I'm not sure it's exactly ski fashon but the style is very fun for me. Much like I have always liked bathing suits and the associated ocean style which is sort of similar despote the weather differences.
Then there is Apres Ski which is really so much fun even if the bar is filled to the brim with sweaty, drunk Germans and the music is rediculous with a capital R. This bar was screaming for VMJ BTW, too bad we were never old enough for Apres Ski back in our college ski trip days.
Going with a large group of friends is also part of what makes a ski trip for me. I still don't consider myself a skiier but I promised my friends I would go at least one weekend a year to work on it.
And really when I think skiing is not my sport, I remember the mountains and I am totally committed to one weekend a year.
Sadly, I think my non-skiing husband would have a terrible time if he were to come skiing with me because I am still a beginner and struggle to keep myself motivated after day 2. I think we will try it together at least once though as long as he promises to wear a helmet. On this trip, I had a wipe out that taught me the reason for ski helmets.
I also LOVE slying over the Alps. In my old job, I got so excited to fly with Swiss Air because of the georgeous views on the way into Zurich. I really should plan a summer weekend in these mountains to fully appriciate them.
Fun Fact: Ischgl spreads across Switzerland and Austria and at least one ski trail is over 20 km long!
Spending vs. Saving - where to draw the line and should I pay attention to the inflation rate?
This post is kind of all over the place in that train of thought thing I do. If you are looking for a more straight forward post, move along, this is not it. Sometimes, I just don't have structure. I'm currently outlining 3 versions of a research paper so my capacity for structure has been exhausted today. Appologies.
I have a pretty simple system of money management that I learned at a young age from my parents. It works like this. Get money (gifts as a child than income), put most of it into a bank account and leave it there. You are able to keep some cash on hand for spending based on income and needs but mostly save just in case. In hind sight, I don't see my parents operating this way and it really only makes sense when you are a child and don't have expenses like rent or an income which is direct deposited into your account. So, I've honestly adapted a bit to a much more simple version. Get paid each month, direct deposit all income into bank account, direct deposit a smaller portion into savings account which is untouchable. Visit ATM weekly for spending money, pay for things with debit card, keep a mental note of account balance. Check bank account every 6-8 weeks to be sure you are not running out of money. This is a TERRIBLE system but it sort of works. The point being is that I tend to focus on saving money as much as possible while still living my life. I aim to live below my means for as long as possible and hopefully build up a bank account to support owning a beach house one day in the near future.
In 2009, I challenged myself to not shop for a whole year and it really changed my outlook on needs vs. wants. It also took the excitement out of "retail therapy". At the time, I had recently took a new job which resulted in a decrease in income and wanted to be able to continue taking weekend trips so I cut out shopping in order to afford flying. Now I see the exercise, had long term positive effects on my spending outlook.
To the point, I have been holding out on owning a smartphone for some time since I was on a pay as you go type contract that I started in 2007 and my monthly phone bill was under 10 EUR most months. I saw that a smartphone would require the initial investment of a new phone to the tune of 500 EUR and then an increased monthy usage fee which I estimated would be around 50 EUR based on what friends pay for theirs. I was never against the technology, I was against cost. As more and more of my friends got on the smartphone bandwagon and I became more involved in social media, I couldn's escape the teasing. My Samsung slider from 2007 was not cutting it socially although it worked for phone calls just fine. I figured I would get a work phone with my next job and I could wait until then. For Christmas, P gifted me a very pretty white Samsung Galxey S2. I was completely surprised. Then I whined a bit about how much it would increase my monthly costs. He told me I could afford it and to get over it. For him it was not a price issue, it was more of a quality of life issue. I should add that he is now fully involved in the manageing of my finances since we combined so he knows what our bank accounts look like. I pointed out that 50 EUR per month amounts to an intercontinental flight (I'm still thinking about my airplane tickets) at the end of a year. This is when he asked when I have been in a situation where I wanted a flight but didn't buy it because of money. I haven't. This is also the point where I remembered we have totally differnt values on saving vs. spending. I think we both agree savings should be invested but again he is a bit more agressive than I in the investment sense.
The point of all this is that it made me reconsider my ideals. As a business student, I have taken my fair share of finance courses and I know money in a bank account with no interest is stupid. Especially in our current situation where inflation is coming on strong and governments are cash poor. I also can see that there are very few safe investments and most things are not inflation proof. Gold is the exception but it is also pretty high priced these days and storing gold is not exactly realistic when I plan to move across country boarders in the next year. So, what whould I do in an effort to be fiscally responsible? Spend my money and buy things while I can still afford them? This is stupid for many reasons but the moving plan is high on the list. I want to buy a beach house but that costs significantly more than what I have saved until now and is also not really practical at this point.
So, I will continue on my plan of putting money in the bank, taking money out of the bank, limiting unecessary purchases and giving my husband investment privelages. I do have my smartphone now but to my surprise, I was able to get a data plan for half of what I expected the monthly fee to be which made me happy. I still want to simplify my life and own fewer things. In the mean time, I guess I'm looking for advice on how to avoid losing savings to inflation. Anyone come across a good plan yet? Please share.
I have a pretty simple system of money management that I learned at a young age from my parents. It works like this. Get money (gifts as a child than income), put most of it into a bank account and leave it there. You are able to keep some cash on hand for spending based on income and needs but mostly save just in case. In hind sight, I don't see my parents operating this way and it really only makes sense when you are a child and don't have expenses like rent or an income which is direct deposited into your account. So, I've honestly adapted a bit to a much more simple version. Get paid each month, direct deposit all income into bank account, direct deposit a smaller portion into savings account which is untouchable. Visit ATM weekly for spending money, pay for things with debit card, keep a mental note of account balance. Check bank account every 6-8 weeks to be sure you are not running out of money. This is a TERRIBLE system but it sort of works. The point being is that I tend to focus on saving money as much as possible while still living my life. I aim to live below my means for as long as possible and hopefully build up a bank account to support owning a beach house one day in the near future.
In 2009, I challenged myself to not shop for a whole year and it really changed my outlook on needs vs. wants. It also took the excitement out of "retail therapy". At the time, I had recently took a new job which resulted in a decrease in income and wanted to be able to continue taking weekend trips so I cut out shopping in order to afford flying. Now I see the exercise, had long term positive effects on my spending outlook.
To the point, I have been holding out on owning a smartphone for some time since I was on a pay as you go type contract that I started in 2007 and my monthly phone bill was under 10 EUR most months. I saw that a smartphone would require the initial investment of a new phone to the tune of 500 EUR and then an increased monthy usage fee which I estimated would be around 50 EUR based on what friends pay for theirs. I was never against the technology, I was against cost. As more and more of my friends got on the smartphone bandwagon and I became more involved in social media, I couldn's escape the teasing. My Samsung slider from 2007 was not cutting it socially although it worked for phone calls just fine. I figured I would get a work phone with my next job and I could wait until then. For Christmas, P gifted me a very pretty white Samsung Galxey S2. I was completely surprised. Then I whined a bit about how much it would increase my monthly costs. He told me I could afford it and to get over it. For him it was not a price issue, it was more of a quality of life issue. I should add that he is now fully involved in the manageing of my finances since we combined so he knows what our bank accounts look like. I pointed out that 50 EUR per month amounts to an intercontinental flight (I'm still thinking about my airplane tickets) at the end of a year. This is when he asked when I have been in a situation where I wanted a flight but didn't buy it because of money. I haven't. This is also the point where I remembered we have totally differnt values on saving vs. spending. I think we both agree savings should be invested but again he is a bit more agressive than I in the investment sense.
The point of all this is that it made me reconsider my ideals. As a business student, I have taken my fair share of finance courses and I know money in a bank account with no interest is stupid. Especially in our current situation where inflation is coming on strong and governments are cash poor. I also can see that there are very few safe investments and most things are not inflation proof. Gold is the exception but it is also pretty high priced these days and storing gold is not exactly realistic when I plan to move across country boarders in the next year. So, what whould I do in an effort to be fiscally responsible? Spend my money and buy things while I can still afford them? This is stupid for many reasons but the moving plan is high on the list. I want to buy a beach house but that costs significantly more than what I have saved until now and is also not really practical at this point.
So, I will continue on my plan of putting money in the bank, taking money out of the bank, limiting unecessary purchases and giving my husband investment privelages. I do have my smartphone now but to my surprise, I was able to get a data plan for half of what I expected the monthly fee to be which made me happy. I still want to simplify my life and own fewer things. In the mean time, I guess I'm looking for advice on how to avoid losing savings to inflation. Anyone come across a good plan yet? Please share.
Spending vs. Saving - where to draw the line and should I pay attention to the inflation rate?
This post is kind of all over the place in that train of thought thing I do. If you are looking for a more straight forward post, move along, this is not it. Sometimes, I just don't have structure. I'm currently outlining 3 versions of a research paper so my capacity for structure has been exhausted today. Appologies.
I have a pretty simple system of money management that I learned at a young age from my parents. It works like this. Get money (gifts as a child than income), put most of it into a bank account and leave it there. You are able to keep some cash on hand for spending based on income and needs but mostly save just in case. In hind sight, I don't see my parents operating this way and it really only makes sense when you are a child and don't have expenses like rent or an income which is direct deposited into your account. So, I've honestly adapted a bit to a much more simple version. Get paid each month, direct deposit all income into bank account, direct deposit a smaller portion into savings account which is untouchable. Visit ATM weekly for spending money, pay for things with debit card, keep a mental note of account balance. Check bank account every 6-8 weeks to be sure you are not running out of money. This is a TERRIBLE system but it sort of works. The point being is that I tend to focus on saving money as much as possible while still living my life. I aim to live below my means for as long as possible and hopefully build up a bank account to support owning a beach house one day in the near future.
In 2009, I challenged myself to not shop for a whole year and it really changed my outlook on needs vs. wants. It also took the excitement out of "retail therapy". At the time, I had recently took a new job which resulted in a decrease in income and wanted to be able to continue taking weekend trips so I cut out shopping in order to afford flying. Now I see the exercise, had long term positive effects on my spending outlook.
To the point, I have been holding out on owning a smartphone for some time since I was on a pay as you go type contract that I started in 2007 and my monthly phone bill was under 10 EUR most months. I saw that a smartphone would require the initial investment of a new phone to the tune of 500 EUR and then an increased monthy usage fee which I estimated would be around 50 EUR based on what friends pay for theirs. I was never against the technology, I was against cost. As more and more of my friends got on the smartphone bandwagon and I became more involved in social media, I couldn's escape the teasing. My Samsung slider from 2007 was not cutting it socially although it worked for phone calls just fine. I figured I would get a work phone with my next job and I could wait until then. For Christmas, P gifted me a very pretty white Samsung Galxey S2. I was completely surprised. Then I whined a bit about how much it would increase my monthly costs. He told me I could afford it and to get over it. For him it was not a price issue, it was more of a quality of life issue. I should add that he is now fully involved in the manageing of my finances since we combined so he knows what our bank accounts look like. I pointed out that 50 EUR per month amounts to an intercontinental flight (I'm still thinking about my airplane tickets) at the end of a year. This is when he asked when I have been in a situation where I wanted a flight but didn't buy it because of money. I haven't. This is also the point where I remembered we have totally differnt values on saving vs. spending. I think we both agree savings should be invested but again he is a bit more agressive than I in the investment sense.
The point of all this is that it made me reconsider my ideals. As a business student, I have taken my fair share of finance courses and I know money in a bank account with no interest is stupid. Especially in our current situation where inflation is coming on strong and governments are cash poor. I also can see that there are very few safe investments and most things are not inflation proof. Gold is the exception but it is also pretty high priced these days and storing gold is not exactly realistic when I plan to move across country boarders in the next year. So, what whould I do in an effort to be fiscally responsible? Spend my money and buy things while I can still afford them? This is stupid for many reasons but the moving plan is high on the list. I want to buy a beach house but that costs significantly more than what I have saved until now and is also not really practical at this point.
So, I will continue on my plan of putting money in the bank, taking money out of the bank, limiting unecessary purchases and giving my husband investment privelages. I do have my smartphone now but to my surprise, I was able to get a data plan for half of what I expected the monthly fee to be which made me happy. I still want to simplify my life and own fewer things. In the mean time, I guess I'm looking for advice on how to avoid losing savings to inflation. Anyone come across a good plan yet? Please share.
I have a pretty simple system of money management that I learned at a young age from my parents. It works like this. Get money (gifts as a child than income), put most of it into a bank account and leave it there. You are able to keep some cash on hand for spending based on income and needs but mostly save just in case. In hind sight, I don't see my parents operating this way and it really only makes sense when you are a child and don't have expenses like rent or an income which is direct deposited into your account. So, I've honestly adapted a bit to a much more simple version. Get paid each month, direct deposit all income into bank account, direct deposit a smaller portion into savings account which is untouchable. Visit ATM weekly for spending money, pay for things with debit card, keep a mental note of account balance. Check bank account every 6-8 weeks to be sure you are not running out of money. This is a TERRIBLE system but it sort of works. The point being is that I tend to focus on saving money as much as possible while still living my life. I aim to live below my means for as long as possible and hopefully build up a bank account to support owning a beach house one day in the near future.
In 2009, I challenged myself to not shop for a whole year and it really changed my outlook on needs vs. wants. It also took the excitement out of "retail therapy". At the time, I had recently took a new job which resulted in a decrease in income and wanted to be able to continue taking weekend trips so I cut out shopping in order to afford flying. Now I see the exercise, had long term positive effects on my spending outlook.
To the point, I have been holding out on owning a smartphone for some time since I was on a pay as you go type contract that I started in 2007 and my monthly phone bill was under 10 EUR most months. I saw that a smartphone would require the initial investment of a new phone to the tune of 500 EUR and then an increased monthy usage fee which I estimated would be around 50 EUR based on what friends pay for theirs. I was never against the technology, I was against cost. As more and more of my friends got on the smartphone bandwagon and I became more involved in social media, I couldn's escape the teasing. My Samsung slider from 2007 was not cutting it socially although it worked for phone calls just fine. I figured I would get a work phone with my next job and I could wait until then. For Christmas, P gifted me a very pretty white Samsung Galxey S2. I was completely surprised. Then I whined a bit about how much it would increase my monthly costs. He told me I could afford it and to get over it. For him it was not a price issue, it was more of a quality of life issue. I should add that he is now fully involved in the manageing of my finances since we combined so he knows what our bank accounts look like. I pointed out that 50 EUR per month amounts to an intercontinental flight (I'm still thinking about my airplane tickets) at the end of a year. This is when he asked when I have been in a situation where I wanted a flight but didn't buy it because of money. I haven't. This is also the point where I remembered we have totally differnt values on saving vs. spending. I think we both agree savings should be invested but again he is a bit more agressive than I in the investment sense.
The point of all this is that it made me reconsider my ideals. As a business student, I have taken my fair share of finance courses and I know money in a bank account with no interest is stupid. Especially in our current situation where inflation is coming on strong and governments are cash poor. I also can see that there are very few safe investments and most things are not inflation proof. Gold is the exception but it is also pretty high priced these days and storing gold is not exactly realistic when I plan to move across country boarders in the next year. So, what whould I do in an effort to be fiscally responsible? Spend my money and buy things while I can still afford them? This is stupid for many reasons but the moving plan is high on the list. I want to buy a beach house but that costs significantly more than what I have saved until now and is also not really practical at this point.
So, I will continue on my plan of putting money in the bank, taking money out of the bank, limiting unecessary purchases and giving my husband investment privelages. I do have my smartphone now but to my surprise, I was able to get a data plan for half of what I expected the monthly fee to be which made me happy. I still want to simplify my life and own fewer things. In the mean time, I guess I'm looking for advice on how to avoid losing savings to inflation. Anyone come across a good plan yet? Please share.
Wednesday, December 28, 2011
Tuesday, December 27, 2011
Monday, December 26, 2011
Saturday, December 24, 2011
Giving the Gift of Music in Our Troubled Times
Write, sing, speak up! What ever you have to offer, if it's helpful to anyone at all, now is the time to share it. We are living in troubled times. The city I live in, my home-state, our country, this world of ours...is in trouble. I don't know if you've noticed, but things are bad all around. The economy and the lives of people are in trouble. There's trouble on your street, whether or not you want to accept that fact...and it does affect you...whether or not you choose to care.
The only thing I can do about these troubled times, (because, let's face it, some things we really don't have any control over), is share my talent in the hopes of helping someone. And I encourage you to do the same. Your personal experiences alone, may help someone, if you tell the truth about what you've been through, and how you survived.
Music is an awesome tool to convey your experiences and unite spirits in common-concern. Giving the gift of music can ease a troubled mind.
Often a person may feel all alone, or feel like they are going through something that no one else can relate to. But therein lies the magic of sharing. Once you express yourself, someone else is often joined with you in a common experience, and you give one another strength.
Let's face it, world, unless we find a way to unite, to pull together, to share, to link-up, hook-up, join-in, feel one another's pain, share one another's sorrow, help one another shoulder a burden, we will perish in these troubled times. But in unity, in giving love, simply sharing your talent, we can and we will survive, prosper and even flourish. It's quite possible!
So, even if you can't sing or play an instrument, you can play the radio, you can hum, you can put on a CD...Give the Gift of Music to someone or to yourself, in good times and in bad times. Then, watch things change.
The only thing I can do about these troubled times, (because, let's face it, some things we really don't have any control over), is share my talent in the hopes of helping someone. And I encourage you to do the same. Your personal experiences alone, may help someone, if you tell the truth about what you've been through, and how you survived.
Music is an awesome tool to convey your experiences and unite spirits in common-concern. Giving the gift of music can ease a troubled mind.
Often a person may feel all alone, or feel like they are going through something that no one else can relate to. But therein lies the magic of sharing. Once you express yourself, someone else is often joined with you in a common experience, and you give one another strength.
Let's face it, world, unless we find a way to unite, to pull together, to share, to link-up, hook-up, join-in, feel one another's pain, share one another's sorrow, help one another shoulder a burden, we will perish in these troubled times. But in unity, in giving love, simply sharing your talent, we can and we will survive, prosper and even flourish. It's quite possible!
So, even if you can't sing or play an instrument, you can play the radio, you can hum, you can put on a CD...Give the Gift of Music to someone or to yourself, in good times and in bad times. Then, watch things change.
Giving the Gift of Music in Our Troubled Times
Write, sing, speak up! What ever you have to offer, if it's helpful to anyone at all, now is the time to share it. We are living in troubled times. The city I live in, my home-state, our country, this world of ours...is in trouble. I don't know if you've noticed, but things are bad all around. The economy and the lives of people are in trouble. There's trouble on your street, whether or not you want to accept that fact...and it does affect you...whether or not you choose to care.
The only thing I can do about these troubled times, (because, let's face it, some things we really don't have any control over), is share my talent in the hopes of helping someone. And I encourage you to do the same. Your personal experiences alone, may help someone, if you tell the truth about what you've been through, and how you survived.
Music is an awesome tool to convey your experiences and unite spirits in common-concern. Giving the gift of music can ease a troubled mind.
Often a person may feel all alone, or feel like they are going through something that no one else can relate to. But therein lies the magic of sharing. Once you express yourself, someone else is often joined with you in a common experience, and you give one another strength.
Let's face it, world, unless we find a way to unite, to pull together, to share, to link-up, hook-up, join-in, feel one another's pain, share one another's sorrow, help one another shoulder a burden, we will perish in these troubled times. But in unity, in giving love, simply sharing your talent, we can and we will survive, prosper and even flourish. It's quite possible!
So, even if you can't sing or play an instrument, you can play the radio, you can hum, you can put on a CD...Give the Gift of Music to someone or to yourself, in good times and in bad times. Then, watch things change.
The only thing I can do about these troubled times, (because, let's face it, some things we really don't have any control over), is share my talent in the hopes of helping someone. And I encourage you to do the same. Your personal experiences alone, may help someone, if you tell the truth about what you've been through, and how you survived.
Music is an awesome tool to convey your experiences and unite spirits in common-concern. Giving the gift of music can ease a troubled mind.
Often a person may feel all alone, or feel like they are going through something that no one else can relate to. But therein lies the magic of sharing. Once you express yourself, someone else is often joined with you in a common experience, and you give one another strength.
Let's face it, world, unless we find a way to unite, to pull together, to share, to link-up, hook-up, join-in, feel one another's pain, share one another's sorrow, help one another shoulder a burden, we will perish in these troubled times. But in unity, in giving love, simply sharing your talent, we can and we will survive, prosper and even flourish. It's quite possible!
So, even if you can't sing or play an instrument, you can play the radio, you can hum, you can put on a CD...Give the Gift of Music to someone or to yourself, in good times and in bad times. Then, watch things change.
Just the Way You Are
The song was written by Billy Joel and made its world debut on BJ's 1977 album The Stranger.
It's a great song, so it has obviously been covered a time or two. Here's two great versions.
First, the inestimable Barry White. That's rare concert footage from a concert Barry did in Belgium.
And finally, the gorgeous and extremely talented Diana Krall really took the song somewhere else. Some of you may know Diana Krall as Elvis Costello's wife. I will always know her as the girl I should have married if not for that pesky Elvis Costello. She's a sublime artist and here she is taking on the Just the Way You Are.
And finally, the gorgeous and extremely talented Diana Krall really took the song somewhere else. Some of you may know Diana Krall as Elvis Costello's wife. I will always know her as the girl I should have married if not for that pesky Elvis Costello. She's a sublime artist and here she is taking on the Just the Way You Are.
Much respect to Mr. Joel for writing it, but that Diana Krall version is a chill-bumper. If you like it, do yourself a favor and check out Diana's Live in Paris concert footage where she sings this song as well as many others. She kills it in that show and wow does she own that piano.
So there's three pretty different takes on the tune. I think you will agree though that no matter how it's performed it's a pretty amazing piece of work. Touching lyrics and great music. It's a rare gem and here's hoping that after watching these links, you hum it in the shower tomorrow morning.
DT3
Just the Way You Are
The song was written by Billy Joel and made its world debut on BJ's 1977 album The Stranger.
It's a great song, so it has obviously been covered a time or two. Here's two great versions.
First, the inestimable Barry White. That's rare concert footage from a concert Barry did in Belgium.
And finally, the gorgeous and extremely talented Diana Krall really took the song somewhere else. Some of you may know Diana Krall as Elvis Costello's wife. I will always know her as the girl I should have married if not for that pesky Elvis Costello. She's a sublime artist and here she is taking on the Just the Way You Are.
And finally, the gorgeous and extremely talented Diana Krall really took the song somewhere else. Some of you may know Diana Krall as Elvis Costello's wife. I will always know her as the girl I should have married if not for that pesky Elvis Costello. She's a sublime artist and here she is taking on the Just the Way You Are.
Much respect to Mr. Joel for writing it, but that Diana Krall version is a chill-bumper. If you like it, do yourself a favor and check out Diana's Live in Paris concert footage where she sings this song as well as many others. She kills it in that show and wow does she own that piano.
So there's three pretty different takes on the tune. I think you will agree though that no matter how it's performed it's a pretty amazing piece of work. Touching lyrics and great music. It's a rare gem and here's hoping that after watching these links, you hum it in the shower tomorrow morning.
DT3
Friday, December 23, 2011
Thursday, December 22, 2011
How to Be Awesome: Meeting New People Edition
When you first meet people, there is the standard course of etiquette. Then there is the awesome course of etiquette. I feel it is important to distinguish between the two, since they are not nearly the same. Here's what I mean:
Names: Standard etiquette requires telling people your first and last names, and then shaking hands. This is entirely boring and forgettable. You have to remember that the person you're meeting probably has a really small brain, so awesome etiquette dictates that you should help him by scrawling your name in permanent marker on the back of his hand. Tattooing a picture of your face under your name is also encouraged.
Small talk: The next step in meeting new people is, invariably, small talk. Standard etiquette says you have to discuss horrid mundane stuff, such as weather and hobbies. This is a seriously bad idea. Awesome etiquette says that during the small talk phase, you should verbally agree upon how much effort you're going to put into this relationship. This usually means figuring out if you would be interested in dating the person you're talking to (and if s/he'd be interested in dating you). How do you do that? By saying something extremely subtle, like, “I'm single. How 'bout you?” or, “I totally have a significant other right now.” Trust me, this will clear things up for later.
Silence: At some point, you will reach the awkward silence. Standard etiquette is actually acceptable in this case, since it involves making the awkward turtle (or whatever animal you're supporting this month). Awesome etiquette is...well, more awesome. It requires staring soulfully into your new acquaintance's eyes, until s/he awkwardly asks what the heck you're doing. Then you should mumble something about eyes being the windows to the soul. If the person is worth your time, s/he will laugh.
Sharing info: After all of this, you will come to the goodbye. In the course of the goodbye, one of you will ask for the other's contact info. Standard etiquette requires actually giving the other person your phone number, email, IM name, and social security number. Awesome etiquette requires giving the other person the rejection hotline number, whether you actually want to stay in touch with him/her or not. If the person really wants to find you, s/he can stalk you on the internet. Think of this as a test of his/her sense of humor and dedication to your newfound friendship.
Good luck!
Are you awesome or awkward when you meet new people?
How to Be Awesome: Meeting New People Edition
When you first meet people, there is the standard course of etiquette. Then there is the awesome course of etiquette. I feel it is important to distinguish between the two, since they are not nearly the same. Here's what I mean:
Names: Standard etiquette requires telling people your first and last names, and then shaking hands. This is entirely boring and forgettable. You have to remember that the person you're meeting probably has a really small brain, so awesome etiquette dictates that you should help him by scrawling your name in permanent marker on the back of his hand. Tattooing a picture of your face under your name is also encouraged.
Small talk: The next step in meeting new people is, invariably, small talk. Standard etiquette says you have to discuss horrid mundane stuff, such as weather and hobbies. This is a seriously bad idea. Awesome etiquette says that during the small talk phase, you should verbally agree upon how much effort you're going to put into this relationship. This usually means figuring out if you would be interested in dating the person you're talking to (and if s/he'd be interested in dating you). How do you do that? By saying something extremely subtle, like, “I'm single. How 'bout you?” or, “I totally have a significant other right now.” Trust me, this will clear things up for later.
Silence: At some point, you will reach the awkward silence. Standard etiquette is actually acceptable in this case, since it involves making the awkward turtle (or whatever animal you're supporting this month). Awesome etiquette is...well, more awesome. It requires staring soulfully into your new acquaintance's eyes, until s/he awkwardly asks what the heck you're doing. Then you should mumble something about eyes being the windows to the soul. If the person is worth your time, s/he will laugh.
Sharing info: After all of this, you will come to the goodbye. In the course of the goodbye, one of you will ask for the other's contact info. Standard etiquette requires actually giving the other person your phone number, email, IM name, and social security number. Awesome etiquette requires giving the other person the rejection hotline number, whether you actually want to stay in touch with him/her or not. If the person really wants to find you, s/he can stalk you on the internet. Think of this as a test of his/her sense of humor and dedication to your newfound friendship.
Good luck!
Are you awesome or awkward when you meet new people?
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